


Mysteries of the Puzzle Palace

by idleflower



Category: Gemma Doyle Trilogy - Libba Bray
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, F/F, F/M, Gaming, Misses Clause Challenge, Private School, Role-Playing Game, setting: pre 2000
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-06
Updated: 2016-12-06
Packaged: 2018-09-02 03:29:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 8
Words: 11,518
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8649784
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/idleflower/pseuds/idleflower
Summary: Gemma Doyle isn't thrilled to be sent to a snobby private school while her mother is away on a work assignment, but unexpected friendships may help her to explore the secrets of the Realms.. with pen and paper. (80s/90s US high school AU)





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [nomical](https://archiveofourown.org/users/nomical/gifts).



Surely it was bad enough, Gemma thought, to be without your mother, to be forced to travel to a new city and move in with a relative you barely knew and didn't really like, without having to deal with a new school as well. Worse, with _math class._ But there was no help for it. It had been Gemma's mother who arranged the home-schooling around the edges of her mysterious employment, and now that she was gone (away-gone, not dead-gone, Gemma chanted by rote) her daughter was thrown back into the fangs of the education system to become a high school freshman.

She had attended a regular school, in the years before junior high, but it had been nothing at all like the Rosebower Academy for Young Ladies. Not only were all the students here female, but they appeared to be universally the sort of prim and proper rich girls who looked down their noses at Gemma's frizzy red hair and untucked t-shirt. The drab khaki slacks her grandmother had provided turned out to be necessary, as blue jeans were against the dress code and only allowed as a special privilege on designated holidays. Shorts and skirts that didn't extend below the knee were absolutely forbidden. Hair was neatly brushed and curled and never any color other than natural, earrings were demure pearls or tiny gold dots. Makeup was unheard of. And when the class bells rang, everyone sat straight in their seats, facing forward, feet on the floor, not a whisper or a passed note anywhere. Perfect little drones.

In between classes, of course, the girls did chatter in the halls, but Gemma was a stranger here. There were so few students in each grade that she saw the same faces over and over again, all staring back at her with what might have been either curiosity or loathing. As such, it was a brief surprise when she entered the geometry classroom and found that the only open seat (in the front, of course, the back always filled up first) was next to someone completely unfamiliar. 

Gemma slid into position, tucking her backpack under the desk, and studied her neighbor out of the corner of her eye. She was slightly plump, with large glasses and long brown hair, and so generally unremarkable that Gemma was not entirely certain they hadn't been introduced already. Still, if it was a mistake, it was one that could be easily excused by being new. "Hi," she began. "I'm Gemma Doyle. I've just started here. I don't think we've met?"

Muddy brown eyes met hers without any sign of interest. "I'm Ann."

"I don't think I've seen you in my other classes," Gemma tried again.

"I'm not in your grade," Ann said, sniffling. She bent down to search her bag for a tissue to sneeze into.

Gemma wondered at that. This was a high school. If Ann wasn't a freshman, but something older, did that mean she had failed this class in the past and been made to repeat it? So, not only plain-looking, but not very bright either. She made one last attempt at being friendly. "I hate having colds, I always get them in the fall."

"I don't have a cold," Ann said, wiping her nose.

Gemma gave up and retreated into her geometry textbook.

\---

At the end of the school day, the reserved young ladies of Rosebower broke out into a raucous chorus of jokes, insults, and plans for the afternoon's entertainment. Not having any friends to banter with, Gemma gathered her things from her locker swiftly and began to make her way to the exit. That required passing through a hallway belonging to one of the upper grades. She could see Ann, ahead, hunched over on the floor by a locker, stacking and restacking her notebooks into perfectly-tidy piles. 

A pair of girls stood nearby, posed like models from a catalog. Despite the crowded afterschool halls, no one questioned their right to the space. The first was quite possibly the most beautiful girl Gemma had ever seen. Her features might have come straight from a glamour magazine, with olive skin and cheekbones to die for. Her hair was black and curled into perfect ringlets, and her eyes a blue so dark they looked almost purple. Around her neck she wore a little jeweled cross that glittered dark-red. Garnets, Gemma hoped. Surely even at Rosebower, no one would wear that many rubies on a daily basis.

Though the dark girl was perfectly lovely, it was her companion that drew the most attention. She was long-legged and slim-figured, gangly in a way most girls would have outgrown at her height and age. Her white-blond hair was cut in a sharp, straight bob which gleamed under the school's fluorescent lighting. High arched brows gave her a look of constant surprise. She gestured too widely, talked too loudly to seem anything but a clown among the Rosebower maidens, and yet they only looked at her with smiles and respect. Their beloved leader.

Well, she wasn't Gemma's beloved anything. "Excuse me. I need to get through."

"Do you, now?" asked the blonde. Her lips drew up in a full, rich smile. "You're the new freshman, aren't you?"

Gemma sighed. "Yes."

"I'm sure you'll learn _heaps_ at Rosebower. Perhaps someone might help you with your hair."

The pretty girl tittered. 

Cheeks red, Gemma said nothing, but brushed past the pair and out to the parking lot. 

Ann had apparently exited while her attention was elsewhere, and was now climbing into the driver's seat of a modest-looking Escort. So, the girl had a car, that was something. Something Gemma couldn't even hope for at her age, and probably not for longer than that. Instead, she had to wait, swinging her backpack restlessly beside her leg, until at last her father pulled up in a sensible sedan.

"Hello, princess," he greeted her as she half-fell into the backseat.

"Ugh! I am nothing like a princess. Not compared to them," Gemma said, rolling her eyes at the Rosenbower girls.

"Bad first day of school, then?"

"They're all so totally boring," she huffed. "They only care about horses and tennis and stock tips."

"Stock tips? Really? Maybe you should give me a few."

"Oh, Daddy, really! You know I don't mean that. I mean, that's what they're like. Money and being ladies and being _perfect._ I'm never going to make any friends." Gemma sighed. "Everybody thinks I'm weird already, and I haven't even talked to them yet."

He was quiet for a minute, watching the road. "You know, your mother was worried about that. She wanted you to have the best education, and Rosebower really is one of the best, but she thought they might have trouble understanding your background. She had an idea for that, but Tom didn't like it."

"If my brother doesn't like it, I love it," Gemma said promptly. "What is it?"

"She thought I should take you to visit a club at a local university, somewhere you might meet a different mix of people. People who might appreciate the sort of games you and your mother used to play at, while you were studying," Mr. Doyle said. "So, Gemma... how do you feel about Dungeons and Dragons?"


	2. Chapter 2

_  
"Before you set foot into the Puzzle Palace," Mother intoned, "you must declare yourself and your intentions to the Powers That Be. You see before you a white pentagonal structure, the Sealed Shrine. There are columns on each side, and steps leading up into the interior. At its center there is an altar, holding a great golden disc with a falcon carved onto it. The falcon clutches a key in its claws. Its eyes appear to stare directly at you. Will you approach?"_

_Gemma nodded. "I climb the steps, touching each one with my wooden staff before I step on it, in case of traps."_

_"Nothing unusual happens."_

_"I stand in front of the altar. 'I, Tiger's Breath of the Moss Forest, seek the mysteries of the Puzzle Palace...'"  
_

\---

The next day, Gemma was scowling at her math homework before class. The work wasn't so impossibly difficult, not really, but she was not used to having to wait a whole day for a teacher to tell her if her answers were right or wrong. She glanced over at Ann, who was once again seated nearby. The designated Loser's Corner, Gemma thought. "Hey, you've seen these problems before, right? Do you have the key?"

Ann blinked, a tiny frown forming between her eyes. "Seen them before?"

"You took this class last year, right?"

"No." Ann looked annoyed. "Don't you know? This is honors-track math."

"Uh... sorry?" Gemma didn't see what that had to do with anything.

Ann shrugged. "Rosebower splits math students into two sections in junior high. Honors-track goes straight into algebra and finishes with calculus senior year. Regular track never gets that far. The only way to change tracks is to double up and do geometry the same year as advanced algebra."

"You're taking _two_ math classes at the same time?" Gemma blinked. "Why?"

"I need calculus for college. If I want to get into a good school, I have to work for it. So I made up my mind."

"Wow, that's dedicated." And a little disappointing, Gemma thought. It made Ann seem more like all the other boring Rosebower girls. 

"I have to plan my life. No one else is going to do it for me," Ann said, and pressed her lips together.

She looked like she might be about to sneeze, or cry. Gemma dove into her backpack for a pack of tissues. In her haste, she knocked loose a few other items: a purple zippered pencil case, the compass she had been required to buy for geometry but hadn't used yet, and a narrow plastic cylinder full of polyhedral shapes, which rolled away when it hit the floor. "Whoops... Can you grab that?"

Ann picked up the tube and stared at the translucent yellow objects inside, each face marked with a number. "Dice? You're a gamer?"

"Uh, not exactly, I mean, not yet, sort of..." Gemma held out her hand, hoping no other students were paying attention. "Can I have that back?"

Ann met her gaze firmly. "We should talk after lunch." She passed over the dice set, just in time for Gemma to get them tucked away before the teacher came in.

\---

The problem with sitting out alone on the school grounds waiting for someone, Gemma reflected, was that _everyone_ felt it was their business to talk to you. Mrs. Nightwing, the English teacher, had tsked at Gemma for 'soiling her clothes' by perching on bricks next to grass, and then made some pointed comments about how she needed to exert herself to make friends and blend into her new environment. Only the solemn assurance that she was waiting for a friend managed to shake the woman loose.

Then there was Cecily, the most sanctimonious busybody of the freshman class. 

"Are you enjoying Rosebower so far? I'm sure it must be sooo different than your old school. Were there _drugs_ there?"

"Shipments of them, smuggled in the dark of night," Gemma quipped. 

"Gracious! Were there murders? I've heard that at, you know, _public schools,_ a student can drop dead right in the middle of class and everyone has to carry on as if nothing even happened!"

"I'm afraid I never saw anyone killed. Why, do you have a rival you need taken out? Do you want me to find you a hitman?" Gemma fluttered her lashes and smiled, as the other girl backed away in horror. "It's expensive, of course, but that's not a problem, is it?"

The only answer was the flounce of Cecily's curls as she rushed out of sight. Gemma hoped that would be enough to win her some space to herself.

Finally, she saw Ann approaching. Gemma waved her over. Ann looked up and waved back, then suddenly stumbled over an outstretched foot in her path. "Oops, sorry!" laughed the dark-haired beauty from yesterday, before scampering off with her companion.

Ann didn't even bother to complain, but kept walking in Gemma's direction as if nothing had happened. "Who were those girls?" Gemma asked.

"Felicity and Pippa," Ann said flatly.

"What silly names. Pretty and and fancy and useless, like most of Rosebower, except you." Gemma's cheeks darkened as she realised what she'd just implied about Ann. "I mean, your name - "

"- And yours is 'Gemma', right? I've never even heard of that as a name before."

"Well, maybe my name is fancy, but I'm certainly not." Gemma tugged a hand through her wild ginger frizz.

"No," Ann agreed. And if that was perhaps impolite, at least it made them even.

"So, Felicity and Pippa, which one's which? Who's the dark one?"

"That's Pippa. Her family's part-Spanish, part-French, something like that. European."

That explained why she looked like a model. "They're not very nice, are they?"

"Other people think they are," Ann said. "Everyone needs to laugh at someone, I suppose. Listen - I wanted to talk to you about gaming. Are you in a group?"

"I'm not sure what you mean. My mother thought I should try to join the gaming club at the local university. My brother thinks that's dangerous, because all those college boys will try to take advantage of me, or something, and he's a college boy himself, so he knows what they're like." Since Tom's university was in a completely different city, there was only so much meddling he could do in Gemma's life. Which was probably for the best, even if it did mean he couldn't provide transportation either. "I can't go unless Dad drives me, so I don't know if I will at all."

"I want to go with you."

Gemma hesitated. It was certainly convenient. She'd have a chaperone, and one with a car. But was she really certain she wanted to get into this hobby, or to be tied so closely to Ann? They hardly knew each other. "I guess you're, um, really into gaming, huh? Are your parents okay with that?"

Ann's eyes narrowed. "My parents are dead."

"... Oh." Gemma grasped at straws. "My mother's in Washington." It didn't really compare. "We're staying with my grandmother, now, and she keeps saying, that's what happens when women have too much education and get ideas..."

But Ann was no longer listening. She was looking up at a pair of girls approaching - Felicity and Pippa. The blonde was in the lead. "Hey, Ann. Pippa just wanted to apologise again for bumping into you earlier."

The dark girl nodded. "I wasn't looking where I was going. I'm really sorry. Let me make it up to you. I've got a giant Whitman's Sampler in my locker. Come up and pick out some chocolates, okay?"

None of them looked at Gemma. "Okay," said Ann. 

So much for Rosebower friendship.


	3. Chapter 3

Art was Gemma's last class for the day. Not something she felt especially talented in, but at least it was a relief from the too-earnest strain of the rest of her school day. No one, she felt, would judge or limit her future based on how well she could capture a seashell in charcoal. If she failed here, only she and Miss Moore the art teacher would be disappointed.

Works from some of the upper classes were visible by a cupboard, not quite on display. Gemma spotted a sketch that someone had drawn of that obnoxious Felicity, except that in this artwork, those gangly limbs appeared graceful and elegant. There, she might have been an elfin sprite rather than the bullying clown of the real world. How easy it was to lie with a picture!

Around her, the other girls took their places, and Miss Moore came in. She was not so old and dried-up as some of the Rosebower teachers, but neither was she young. Perhaps a bit younger than Gemma's mother, though she stood out to be still called 'Miss' at that age. "Good afternoon, girls," she began. "For today's exercise, I would like you to join up in pairs. You will each be drawing your partner."

Gemma looked around the room with a mix of fear and resignation. It didn't take long for the truth to be evident. Cecily's hand shot primly into the air. "Miss Moore, there's an odd number of students now, because of the new girl. Gemma doesn't have a partner." Cecily's other hand rested proprietarily on the shoulder of Elizabeth beside her, just to ensure that no one thought she was volunteering.

"I see. Well, that's quite all right for today. In the future, I shall have to assign groups," Miss Moore said. "Gemma, just wait for a moment. The rest of you, take a moment to look at your partner and think about her. You do not have to draw her face, or draw her realistically. You can draw her hand, or one of her possessions, or something that reminds you of her. Please be advised that I will be asking you to explain your pictures afterwards, so don't choose anything embarrassing." One or two girls tittered.

Gemma laid out her paper and pencils, wondering whether the enforced politeness of private-school manners would override some girls' need to be catty. Shortly, Miss Moore came to her table. "I am sorry to leave you the odd girl out, but I also thought you might prefer to work on your own at first. Some girls find trading with a partner to be very intimidating."

So it hadn't been an accident? "That's fine, thanks," Gemma managed.

"I would like you to draw something, of course, but it's up to you what you choose. You could draw me, if you wished, or perhaps one of your own belongings."

"Okay." Gemma watched the teacher move around the room for a while, trying to decide what to draw. It might make sense to draw Miss Moore, but she didn't really know her enough to make any sort of statement about her character. Maybe an item from the teacher's desk? Maybe she should draw something of her own instead? Her pencil wandered in an absent pattern, producing nothing but a scribble which she then hurried to erase. All of a sudden, an idea came into her head. It might not be quite the sort of thing she was meant to draw, but it certainly did remind her of someone, if she could just get the picture out of her head...

"An unusual design," Miss Moore commented when she passed by Gemma's side again. "What does it represent?"

"Oh, well, it's supposed to be a coin with a falcon holding a key," Gemma explained wearily. Every attempt to get the bird to clutch a key in its claws seemed to make the whole thing look silly. "It's from a sort of story my mother used to tell me. But I can't make it look right."

"Hmm. Well, perhaps for now you should stick to drawing items actually in the room so that you can check your references."

"Yes, ma'am," Gemma sighed, and wielded the eraser again.

\---

As the hallways emptied, Gemma was surprised to find Ann waiting for her. "Hey."

"What, were the chocolates poisoned or something?"

"No, of course not. They were perfectly nice. Felicity's not that bad, really. She just thinks she's funny. Everyone thinks she's funny."

"Yeah, sure," Gemma mumbled. 

"I just wanted to say - I still want to come with you to the gaming club. I played a little when I was younger, but I don't have a group now. I can drive you. That way we can both go. Okay?"

"Um... okay." Well, it wasn't like she had an abundance of other options.

Ann scribbled something on a piece of paper and handed it over. "That's my number. Call me when you know the schedule. I live with my aunt and uncle and cousin, their last name is Wharton, but if you sound polite enough they'll let you speak to me."

" _Let_ me?"

"It's their phone line," Ann shrugged. "Look, I'm not really one to talk, but - you're new and you don't know anybody. If you want to make friends here, you should go to some events. Stay after school for a sports game or something. It might help. You... probably shouldn't be seen with me." She hesitated for a moment, then shrugged. "See, you know that. Anyway." With that, she went off to her car.

Gemma wondered if she'd been meant to disagree. It was obviously true - if she wanted to be popular at Rosebower, Ann was exactly the wrong friend to make. Now, if Felicity liked her, then everything would be different, but that wasn't exactly likely. And did she even want to be popular, among girls like these?

She watched Cecily's golden curls go bouncing by. Friends like that, she could do without.


	4. Chapter 4

As it happened, the next scheduled meeting of the university gaming club fell on the evening of the same day as Rosebower's soccer game against Central High's girls team. Gemma had arranged for her father to pick her up from school at 4:45, so that she could see at least part of the game, but not be stuck for too long if it was deathly boring. Then she would go home, change, rush through any homework that had to be done, eat dinner, and then Ann would come by to drive them to the campus. As long as she was home by ten, everything would be fine.

Attending a sports match sounded more exciting in concept. In practice, it was hard to figure out when the game was even supposed to happen. People were milling around all over the track and field area, some of whom were Rosebower students and some of whom were most definitely not. Gemma wasn't sure why several of Central's male students had turned up for a girls soccer match - it wasn't like soccer was a particularly sexy sport. Perhaps they simply enjoyed the attention of the otherwise-sheltered private school flowers. 

Gemma saw a knot of students standing near the high-jump bar. Pretty Pippa was there, with a group of onlookers, mostly strangers. Felicity was nowhere in sight. Perhaps, if they were apart, it would be easier to make friends with one of them. She drifted closer. 

Pippa had changed out of her Rosenbower attire into a pair of high shorts that showed off her shapely legs. The garnet cross sparkled above her t-shirt, but her wrist was decorated only with a plain rubber band. "- since the eighth grade dance," she was telling her onlookers. "We all looked awful. Bad perms and hair off to the side, making that face like you've just been hit in the stomach to show how excited you are." She saw Gemma approaching, and lifted her nose. "And then there was Ann Bradshaw. _She_ turned up in these floral culottes and a sleeveless top, and when she raised her arms to dance, you could see she'd never shaved her pits. Hair everywhere!" The audience groaned and laughed, with the occasional outbreak of "gross". 

Gemma smiled awkwardly. What else was there to do? She couldn't call it a lie, she hadn't been there. It might be completely accurate, if mean-spirited. Ann herself had warned her not to seem too friendly. 

"What about you, Gemma Doyle?" Pippa asked with an air of challenge. "What's the worst thing you ever wore to a dance?"

"I've never been to a dance," Gemma admitted. "I was home-schooled before I moved here."

This tidbit seemed to interest some of the strangers. "They have special groups for homeschoolers here," a narrow-faced girl said. "One of my sister's ballet friends is home-schooled, and they organised a costume formal last spring."

"Well, she's not home-schooled now, is she?" Pippa broke in. "So it doesn't matter." She turned back to Gemma. "For Rosebower Prom, of course, you'll need a real date, but freshmen aren't allowed anyway."

"I hope I can see your pictures, after you go," Gemma tried. "I'm sure you'll look great, and it would help me know what to wear."

"There's always pictures in the yearbook," Pippa said, but she seemed pleased.

The conversation returned to fashion, and Gemma began to lose interest. Then a group of girls in uniform came out of the gym. Apparently the game was finally going to start. Pippa and her entourage headed for a spectator section, and Gemma took the opportunity to slip away. Somewhere, someone had to be more interesting.

As she wandered back towards the main school buildings, someone called out "Gemma, dear?" Gemma looked up and sighed. It was Mrs. Nightwing. What was the English teacher doing here? She wasn't involved with sports at all. "Have you seen Felicity Worthington anywhere?"

"No, ma'am," Gemma replied.

"She left her copy of Great Expectations in the classroom. If I don't find her, she'll fall behind in her reading."

"Have you asked Pippa? She usually knows where to find her." Gemma waved in the direction of the stands.

"Thank you, dear. You're very helpful." The woman pushed her glasses up her nose and went on her way.

Restless, Gemma sidled around the edge of the gym. There was a narrow path here marked with pale weeds that the grounds staff must have been overlooking for some time, by their size. It was a quiet place and appeared empty, until she caught the faint sound of laughter. With light, quiet steps, she eased her way into the shadows. There in the distance, she saw Felicity standing with a fair-haired boy, a Central High boy, most likely. There was something in her hand... she was smoking! Gemma smirked to herself. Cigarettes were absolutely against Rosebower rules, even legal ones, and if that were anything else, Felicity would be expelled for certain, if anyone caught her. What a silly risk to take.

Shaking her head, Gemma headed back towards the main field - and nearly collided with someone walking the opposite direction. "Oh! I'm sorry."

"That's all right." The speaker was a young man of about her age, with warm brown skin, darker than Pippa's, and shaggy black hair cut just above chin-length. He wore blue jeans and a faded button-down shirt, untucked, with a badge pinned to his breast pocket. It was a curious design, like a shield with a symbol on it, but next to the symbol was set another copy of the shield, and another inside it, and so on. He looked at her and smiled. "My name is - "

"Oh!" She cut him off as she recognised an approaching figure. It was Mrs. Nightwing again! Gemma knew Felicity's problems were none of her business, but still... "There's a teacher coming, I've got to warn them!" Without further pause, Gemma rushed back between the buildings, hissing "Felicity!" 

The blonde looked up and glared at her. "What do you think you're - "

"Mrs. Nightwing is looking for you. Put it out, now!"

Felicity's eyes went wide. "Shit!" She flapped the hand with the cigarette around, as if trying to dissipate the smoke, which didn't accomplish much while it was still lit. "Shit! Someone take this?"

"What's the big deal?" her male companion asked. "It's not like - "

"Shut up!" she growled. "You don't understand - "

"Here." That voice came from behind Gemma. It was the dark boy, whose name she had not learned. He reached over and plucked the cigarette from Felicity while gently shoving at the other boy's shoulder. "C'mon, Ethan. Don't want those crazy women calling the cops on us."

Felicity fanned herself frantically for a moment, then threw back her head and pasted a bright smile on her face. "All right, let's go!" Linking arms with Gemma, she marched back towards the track, while the two Central High boys disappeared in the other direction. 

If Mrs. Nightwing detected any lingering traces when she encountered them, she said nothing. "Ah, Gemma. You found her after all."

"That's our Gemma," Felicity agreed. "She's very helpful. You were looking for me? Am I in trouble?"

"Oh, no, dear..." 

In a few minutes, the situation was resolved. Felicity charmed Mrs. Nightwing, received her lost book with many thanks, and sent the teacher on her way, none the wiser. Once it was over, she sagged against Gemma's arm, laying her cheek on her shoulder. "Phew! I owe you one."

"No, it's all right." Was she ever going to let go? Gemma was not used to girls being quite so clingy. 

"Fair's fair." Felicity straightened up, a fierce gleam in her gray eyes, and adjusted her grip on Gemma's hand. "How about Pippa and I take you out to dinner tonight?"

"Um, actually, I have plans..." 

"What sort of plans?"

"Um." Gemma floundered. She could lie and claim she had a date, that seemed like something Felicity would respect. She could drop Ann completely to hang out with the popular girls. Ann would probably understand. But then her father would want to know how the meeting went, and he would be disappointed, and fair was fair... "Ann - Ann Bradshaw - and I were going to the university gaming club tonight. Role-playing. Dungeon... stuff." There, she'd said it. Now her reputation would really go south.

Felicity tilted her head, bright hair swaying. "Role-playing. That's kind of like acting, right?" She grinned. "I can do that."

"What?"

She squeezed her hand. "We'll come with you."


	5. Chapter 5

The brutalist architecture of the university commons building was disorienting. Stairs led off at odd angles, while interior balconies wandered in and out overhead. Gemma struggled to make sense of the maps and guides mounted on the wall, and Pippa and Ann alternated glaring at each other and staring silently off into space, so it fell to Felicity to take the lead. She strolled through the hallways as if she had every right to be there, and the others merely followed. "Hey," she hailed a passing jock. "Which way's 178?"

The room itself was larger than Gemma had expected for a university classroom There were tables set in a large U-shape around an empty center; a few people were seated there, but more seemed clustered in groups on the floor playing some form of card game. Most of the occupants looked like she would expect for college students, but there were several adults visible, including... "Is that _Miss Moore_?" she whispered to Pippa.

Even Pippa's startlement was lovely. Her dark eyes widened, and her lashes fluttered, and Gemma bit her lip and tried _not_ to be jealous of such traits. "Fee was right, then. This _is_ a creative skill."

"Just because she's an art teacher doesn't mean everything she does is art," Ann muttered. 

"Come on, get a chair before they're all gone," Felicity laughed, and plopped herself at the nearest table. The others sat beside her, more cautious. "So, Gemma, what do we do next?"

"I don't know," Gemma admitted. "I've never been to this before."

"Is anyone in charge?" Pippa asked quietly.

"Just wait and see," said Ann.

Gemma scanned the room, trying not to stare. The woman who might be Miss Moore wasn't looking in their direction, and Gemma couldn't be quite certain of her identity. She dressed differently, carried herself differently, but all of that might simply be because she was not working here. Or perhaps she had a sister who looked like her, many siblings had strong resemblances. There was a jolly-looking man in his thirties with a little dark beard, a younger man with a ponytail and extremely thick glasses that reduced his eyes to the size of watermelon seeds, and a dimly familiar dark-skinned boy. Just as she recognised him as the person she'd almost collided with at the track earlier, he looked up and caught her eye. He nodded, and Gemma quickly turned her head, her cheeks pink. What if he thought she'd been following him? What was he doing here anyway? This club expedition certainly wasn't turning out as she'd expected...

"Hello, there. I don't think I've seen you girls before." A college girl with blond hair and freckles had approached their table. "I'm Sally, MG President."

"MG?" Pippa whispered, but not quietly enough. Sally laughed. "Master Gamers. Are you in the wrong room?"

"N-no," Gemma said. "We were looking for you. We were hoping to find a campaign to join?"

"All of you?" They nodded. "That's tough. Lots of groups might be willing to take on one new person, but not four at once, especially if - sorry, but have you played before?" Gemma and Ann acknowledged 'a little' experience, Pippa and Felicity none at all. "Yeah, that's not going to work. Trying to bring you all in and get you up to speed in an existing game would give the GMs headaches."

"Now it's 'GM'?" Pippa muttered, but no one answered her.

"Four of you, you know, you might be better off starting your own game, if one of you is willing to run it," Sally said. "You could recruit a veteran to fill out the party, or for advice, but if I were you, I wouldn't let them GM. Too easy to let yourselves get pushed around by someone who thinks they know best, especially nice young girls." Felicity snickered at being called 'nice'. "If you need books, though, we can probably help arrange to loan you some," Sally continued.

"I don't know," Gemma said, glancing at Ann. "We'll think about it."

"Stick around for the meeting and the reports, and if you have any questions, come and talk to me again after." The president nodded to them, and went on to talk to the next group.

"Now what?" Pippa asked. Gemma wondered the same thing. If she and Ann had come alone, they might have had an easier time finding a place for themselves.

"What's it take to run a game?" That was Felicity. "Do you still get to act things out?"

"The bit parts," Gemma said. "The innkeepers, and the allies, and the villains, and everyone the party runs into. But you don't get to solve puzzles or fight monsters, you have to be the monsters, and you're supposed to lose."

Felicity sat back in her chair. "Well, that's no fun. I want to be a hero."

"M-maybe I - " Ann began.

"Shh! The meeting's starting."

For the next while, individuals representing different groups stood at the front and reported on what had been going on in their campaigns. One party consisted of detectives investigating a string of grisly murders - Pippa turned green at the description of a shopkeeper found hanged with his own entrails - which they suspected of being supernatural in origin, especially since their last battle had been against a dog which was apparently possessed by demons. Another report told of wild adventures on a spaceship, ending with the comedy death of a party member who 'snorted crushed warpstone'. 

But the stories that most caught Felicity's interest were the classic dungeon crawls, the discovery of glittering treasure and the combat against ghouls and dragons. Her eyes sparkled, and she leaned forward in her chair, fingers twitching as a dog's paws might while it dreamed of chasing rabbits.

After the reports, the gaming club members drifted back into their own groups to socialise and play cards. Felicity turned her smile onto Gemma. " _You_ know how to do all this, don't you? You could make us a dungeon to explore."

"Me?" Gemma flustered. "I - I've never come up with anything myself, my mother always told the..." But then, she paused. She could retell her mother's stories, couldn't she? She remembered enough to get them started, at least, and with her mother's maps and notes, she _could_ guide her friends through a whole campaign. "... maybe."

"Yes!" Felicity slapped her hand upon the table. "I want to be a knight."

Ann sighed. Pippa looked uneasy. "Can't we just go home?"

Felicity caught her friend's hand and raised it to her lips in a gallant gesture. "To offer you my favor, my lady." The color of Pippa's cheeks deepened to a rosy flush. "It's all make-believe. Which means we can be anything we want, do anything we want."

"Within the rules," said Ann.

"Gemma can change the rules," Felicity said. "Just think about it, Pip. You can make yourself anything you ever dreamed of. A princess, a sorceress, a fairy, anything you like."

"There do have to be rules," Gemma said. "Or there's no challenge. But you can be a lot of things, if you like." But would she be able to control them, if they both demanded for things to go their way just because they wanted them to? Maybe the suggestion to add a veteran player to the group was a good one, especially if it was someone Felicity couldn't bully. "We need another player. Four is a good number for a basic party - a fighter, a wizard, a rogue, and a healer - but I can't be in the party if I'm running it. We should ask someone... maybe that guy?" She tipped her head in the direction of the dark stranger.

Felicity pulled back at once. "A Central High boy? Definitely not. It would be bad for our reputations to ever be alone with one of them." She said this coldly enough for Gemma to catch the implicit warning: not to say anything about her smoking with Ethan. "Besides, there's a much more useful option available... right over there." She raised an arm high overhead and beckoned.

"Are you sure?" Ann asked quietly. "We might get in trouble..." But the figure was already in motion.

"Well. Fancy meeting you girls here," said Miss Moore.

"You play these games?" Pippa asked.

"I have been known to play many games, as time permitted."

"We were hoping you would join our party," said Felicity.

Miss Moore laughed. "Now, I'm not so sure of that. I am your teacher, after all. I'm not meant to be socialising with the students, and I may not have the free time that you do. I don't even know what you're intending to play."

"Gemma's going to run something," Felicity said. "Go on, tell her."

"Well, I'm going to try," Gemma said nervously. "I thought... this adventure that my mother was writing for me, you see? It's set in a place called The Realms, where the chosen adventurers are called together to go through a great labyrinth in order to be blessed by the gods and gain the power to reshape the world. To find their destiny they have to solve the Mysteries of the Puzzle Palace..."

"Fascinating," said Miss Moore. "Perhaps I should stay for a while, just to see what this is all about."

"Yes!" cried Felicity. Pippa looked pleased because she was pleased. Even Gemma was caught up in the excitement... and Ann sighed, but no one noticed.


	6. Chapter 6

As Felicity had foreseen, the benefit of having a teacher on their side was that they could more easily comandeer the empty art room, when classes were finished, to hold their own meetings in. Not the next day, but soon after that, time could be arranged for all to stay after school. In the meantime, Gemma sat with Felicity and Pippa and Ann at lunch, scheming and whispering, and girls like Cecily and Elizabeth steered clear in confusion.

At last it was time for the party to enter The Realms.

"Before you set foot into the Puzzle Palace," Gemma recited, leaning forward in her chair, "you must declare yourself and your intentions to the Powers That Be." She had a makeshift screen set up in front of her, to hide the stack of notes from her players' eyes. "You see before you a white pentagonal structure, the Sealed Shrine. There are columns on each side, and steps leading up into the interior. At its center there is an altar, holding a great golden disc with a falcon carved onto it. The falcon clutches a key in its claws. Its eyes appear to stare directly at you. What will you do?"

"We should -" Felicity started.

"One at a time," Gemma said. "This is your introduction moment, to describe yourself for everyone."

Felicity, of course, was a knight-in-training, a squire in hand-me-down leather armor that was the best she could afford at first-level, decorated with a colorful tabard and jaunty little hat. She leapt up the stairs, Gemma only afterwards pointing out that they _might_ have been trapped, and bowed before the altar, her hat in her hand. "I am Squire Kallista Pendragon, and I seek the mysteries of the Puzzle Palace."

"The altar glows with an inner light, and you hear a voice in your head. 'What is your greatest desire?'," Gemma said.

Felicity looked briefly angry, then shook her head. "To fight and grow strong, strong enough that I'll never have to be afraid of anyone again."

Gemma wondered if she should have clarified that it was the _character's_ greatest desire, but then, most people's characters reflected their own wishes to some degree.

Pippa was a bard, one designed to resemble herself in looks but dressed in a rich velvet gown, as she refused to wear 'ugly armor'. Her melodious voice could charm the unwary when she sang, and the bow slung over her shoulder allowed her to attack her enemies at a distance. Her nimble fingers were equally capable of strumming a tune or picking a lock, since it had been pointed out that generally someone needed that skill. She climbed the stairs -

"What about traps?" Felicity interrupted.

"There aren't any, you already walked there!"

"I leapt over some of the stairs, there might have been one I didn't step on. Anyway, it's your character skill, you ought to use it."

"You don't have to," Gemma broke in. "You can just go ahead."

"No, I should check first. How do I do that?"

After coaxing Pippa through the dice rolls, which of course found nothing, they continued. The bard reached the altar and sank into a deep curtsey. "I am the Lady Rosalind, and I seek the mysteries of the Puzzle Palace."

"And your desire?"

"To - to find true love," Pippa looked down, fiddling with the rubber band on her wrist. "Is that all right?"

"It is a very courtly desire," Miss Moore reassured her. The teacher sat slightly back from the girls, and had warned them that they must continue to call her 'Miss', even if they were all aware that her name was Hester. "Shall I go next, then?"

She brought out a cleric, a holy warrior gifted with powers to heal and to combat evil, at least as it was defined by her chosen deity. She was a broad-shouldered woman in chainmail, bearing a solid mace with which to smite foes and a holy symbol of a butterfly inside a circle: the sign of the Goddess of Change. Before approaching the altar, she knelt and murmured a brief prayer for guidance, then climbed without fear. "I, Titania, a servant of the Goddess, seek the mysteries of the Puzzle Palace, in pursuit of my greatest desire - to find my sister's murderer."

Everyone blinked. "Really?" asked Ann.

The teacher's smile was enigmatic. "Every good character needs a backstory."

That left only Ann, who played a wizard with a black robe and hood to shroud her face. When seen, she had bone-pale skin, sharp features, close-cropped black hair, and eyes that shone a seamless silver. She walked with a staff, topped with metal at one end, which could be used as a weapon in a pinch. As Gemma's druid had done, long ago, she prodded the steps carefully before stepping up. "I am Nyx, and I seek the mysteries of the Puzzle Palace, as I seek all mysteries that I might understand them. My desire is to learn everything that can be learned."

Since the party had completed their introductions, Gemma continued. "The golden disc atop the altar glows painfully bright, and you are forced to close your eyes. When you look again, the falcon and key have vanished, and the disc is now a golden mirror reflecting your own faces. Lying on top of the altar are four red amulets, one for each of you. The voice speaks in your mind again: 'These tokens will be your keys to the first level of the Puzzle Palace.'"

With the tokens equipped, the party was able to proceed into the Red Corridor, though Kallista insisted on testing the flame-covered entrance without the amulet and got her hand burned for her trouble. Titania was easily able to heal the small wound, and they moved on together to face their very first battle. It took longer than Gemma had expected, with so many rules to sort out, but in the end the group was victorious and quite pleased with themselves. The Realms were a success.

\---

When the phone rang that night, Gemma hurried to answer it. It might, after all, be one of her new friends. She had friends! Everything was going well.

"Hello?"

"Is this... Ghemma?" It sounded like a male voice, but oddly distorted, raspy and off-pitch.

"Gemma, like a gem," she corrected the pronunciation. "Who is this?"

"This is a warning," the voice said. "Stop your campaign before it's too late. The secrets of the Puzzle Palace are dangerous."

" _What?!_ What are you talking about? Who is this?" Gemma squeezed the phone's cord in her hand. "Tom, is that you?"

"Think about where your story came from," the mysterious caller continued. "It wasn't meant to be shared."

"It's just a game!"

"This is much more than a game. If you don't stop now, someone could get hurt. Think about what your mother would want." With a click, the line went dead.

Gemma stared at the phone. What was going on?


	7. Chapter 7

Over breakfast, Gemma tried to raise the issue with her father. "Dad, isn't there some way I can call Mom?"

He set down his newspaper. "Princess, you know we can't disturb your mother now. She's doing something very important. She can't be distracted."

"But there's things I need to ask her about..."

His eyes flicked to the door, checking to be sure no one was about to walk in. "Honey, I know it's hard, and you may not be totally comfortable talking about... 'life'... with your grandmother. I'm sure your school will help if you ask your teachers, and I'll do my best to listen for you, even if I'm not a woman - "

"Oh, Daddy! Not _that_ sort of question."

"Oh." He relaxed. "What is it, then?"

"Just, about, secrets and games and things." Her spoon scraped through watery scrambled eggs. "Things no one else knows about."

"Well, then, you certainly shouldn't talk about that over the phone. You never know who's listening, do you?"

 _Someone_ was listening, somehow, that was certain. Even Tom shouldn't know that she was digging into Mom's old Puzzle Palace notes, not unless her father had noticed and told him about it. So who had it been on the phone last night? "When someone phones you, is there a way to find out who it is?" Gemma asked.

"I'm really not an expert on that sort of thing. Oh - yes, I believe they have Caller ID boxes you can rent in this state, but your grandmother would have to agree to that, and I don't think she'd want them. Has someone been prank-calling you? It's better just to hang up. They might be calling from a payphone, anyway." He smiled. "Once when I was in school, we got hold of the office phone and called all the businesses in town, asking for - well, never mind, it was stupid, and I don't want you doing any such thing."

"Yes, Daddy. I mean, no, of course not."

"And you are definitely not allowed to bother your mother to punish some girl at school for picking on you."

Gemma blinked. "How would she punish anybody? She's not even here."

He picked up his paper again. "Never you mind, dear. You just keep on with your schoolwork and make your mother proud."

\---

At school, over lunch, the subject turned to universities and their futures. "I don't have any choice," Pippa said, stabbing a fork into her salad. "I have to go to Sweet Briar, to be 'polished', and to find a good husband. The sooner the better, as my family sees it. I may not even graduate."

"Why are they so worried about you getting married?" Gemma asked.

Pippa plucked at the rubber band around her wrist. "They just are."

"I want to go to Caltech," Ann said in a low voice. "Or somewhere like that. Somewhere far away from here."

"I don't think many Rosebower girls end up there," Felicity said.

Ann didn't look at her. "I have to try."

Felicity stretched. "Anywhere would be lucky to have me. I'm not deciding too quickly. Could be Chicago, could be Duke, could be anywhere. I want law school eventually, but it doesn't matter so much about the bachelor's, as long as I have a high GPA."

"You're going to be a lawyer?" Gemma asked.

Felicity grinned. "And rich as Croesus."

"Why not a banker, then?"

Her smile fell. "No. Never a banker."

"What about you, Gemma?" Ann asked.

Gemma shrugged. "My mother wanted me to study math, and computers, but I don't really like math. I don't know. I don't know what I'm good at."

"Well, you're only a freshman," Felicity shrugged. "No one expects you to know what you want yet."

Ann disagreed. "You have to plan ahead, or by the time you're a senior, you may find out it's too late to get what you want."

"It was always too late," Pippa mumbled. She looked up at their confused faces and scowled. "It was too late when I was born a girl, in my family."

"That's ridiculous," Gemma said. "We're not medieval. Women have jobs. They even run countries! And this is a good school - "

"It's a good school to make you look like a good girl from a good family," Pippa snapped. "Exactly what a society man's wife ought to be. It doesn't mean anything."

"So don't go to Sweet Briar," Ann said. "Apply where you want. Get out of state, learn different things, find a job you like. Your parents can't stop you."

"They've made up their minds! And if they don't pay, I can't go anywhere. I don't have my own _trust fund_."

Ann's face tightened, her brows and lips scrunching in as her cheeks puffed out. "You're not even willing to try."

"Eat shit," Pippa said, and stood from the table. "You're an ugly, stupid nobody, and no one likes you. Even Gemma laughed at you. You have no right to judge anybody, you hear me?"

Ann stared down at her lunch tray, silent.

"Pip, c'mon..." Felicity tried.

"Shut up! Just leave me alone!" She stomped off to the trash cans, dumping the uneaten remains of her lunch. With an apologetic glance at the others, Felicity ran after her.

"Um," Gemma started. "I didn't, really. I never laughed. She was just gossipping -"

"It doesn't matter," said Ann.

"I'm sorry."

"It really doesn't matter. I'm going to work hard, and graduate, and go my own way, and never come back here again," Ann said. "No one here matters." She returned her attention to her food, eating quietly and methodically.

Well, Gemma thought, the secrets of The Realms were probably safe for today. 

\---

They had intended to meet; she would have to call home and arrange an earlier ride. Still, she thought she had better check on the art room just in case Pippa's storms had blown over. Only Miss Moore was there, though, and Gemma had to explain that the session was probably canceled.

"I could drive you home, if you needed," the teacher offered.

"No - I don't have keys, so I need to be sure someone's there," Gemma said. "Anyway, I should look around for a bit first to be sure that no one's coming. They might just be late."

But there was no sign of any of her friends - were they really friends? - in the halls, and Ann's car was missing from the parking lot. Gemma tried to reach her father, but got no answer. It seemed she would be stuck on campus by herself for a while.

Outside, everything was quiet. There weren't any sporting events today, so Gemma could walk the length of the track by herself, trying to put her thoughts in order. It would be stupid for the four of them to split up over such a little argument, wouldn't it? She wasn't even entirely sure why Pippa was so angry at Ann's suggestion. Maybe it was just PMS or something. Ann's feelings had been hurt, but it was clear that she didn't intend to let it ruin her life. And Felicity hadn't even been involved in the fight. Everything would probably be okay in a day or two.

Should they go on with the game? They were only just getting started, it wasn't too late to change to a different story, if she could find one. There were pre-written modules in books and magazines that they could use instead. On the other hand, these were Pippa and Felicity's first characters. They were invested in them. If she made them throw away Kallista and Rosalind and start over, they might just give up and leave.

It wasn't too late for Gemma to start over at Rosebower, either. She might still make other friends. But... she liked Ann and Felicity, even Pippa most of the time. They stood out among the rest of the pale blossoms; they were more real, somehow. They weren't perfect, and that was what made them interesting. It was the promise of secrets and adventure that had drawn them all together. She couldn't give that up now.

But who was threatening The Realms - and why?

Gemma paused, realising that her idle-minded footsteps had brought her to the narrow passage between buildings that she had explored once before. Well... almost explored. The interruption had prevented her from getting a very good look, that time. There probably wasn't anything interesting back there, but she had nothing else to do, so why not look?

She almost burst into laughter when, once again, she spotted Felicity at a distance, half-hidden by shadows. This time, though, she was not smoking, nor with a boy. It was Pippa who stood there, encircled by her arms, and clearly still upset. "I just can't," she was saying. "There's no hope."

Gemma held her breath, listening.

"You could come home with me," Felicity said. "It wouldn't be any trouble. You'd have your own room, if you wanted."

"What about school?"

"My father would pay. He'd pay anything, to keep me quiet and happy."

Pippa shook her head. "You don't know how much tuition costs. And what if my family tried to get me back? If they went to the police? Your family wouldn't stand the scandal."

"When you're eighteen, then. They can't stop us."

"And if I don't make it that long? If they send me away to try and 'cure' me, or I -?"

Suddenly, Felicity pulled Pippa closer, and her words cut off. It took Gemma a moment to realise what was happening. They were _kissing._ Too shocked even to gasp, she wasted moments staring before finally managing to slink away unseen and unheard.

It seemed the Puzzle Palace was not the only source of secrets.


	8. Chapter 8

Matters did not improve the next day. Ann still sat beside Gemma in math class, but she shrugged off attempts to talk. At lunch, Pippa and Felicity had drifted back to the groups they usually mingled with before the campaign began. Gemma wasn't sure whether it would be better in the long run to keep quiet about their secrets or to let them know she didn't care if they were lesbians. She didn't, really. It was a surprise, but it was their business, not hers. It wasn't like either of them was going to try and kiss _her._

Considering that she was now in an all-girls school, Gemma reflected glumly, her chances of being kissed might be better if she did go gay.

After art class, she had to let Miss Moore know that she had no idea when - or if - the next session would be scheduled. The teacher only smiled and said not to worry, that these things had a way of working themselves out. It wasn't much reassurance.

All in all, Gemma was not in the best of moods when she got home. And then, the phone rang.

"Hello?" she half-snarled. If this was going to be another spooky warning, she would give that caller a piece of her mind!

The voice was male, but lighter, more friendly. "Hello. May I speak to Gemma, please?"

"Speaking."

"Oh." He chuckled. "Hello."

"Who is this?"

"Oh! I'm sorry. You - You do not know me, not yet. We almost met. Twice. My name is Kartik Gupta, I go to Central High..."

"You're the boy on the track!" Gemma said.

"Well, there were many people on the track." She could hear the lilt of a smile in his voice. "But I was the one who got Ethan out of sight, to help your friend."

"Sorry I didn't have the chance to thank you."

"That's all right, it was nothing." He paused. "That is not what made you interesting. I hoped to speak with you later, at the Master Gamers club, but you seemed busy. I do not know if you saw me there."

"I did, but... well, there were a lot of strange people around," Gemma hedged. "I didn't talk to most of them." It didn't seem polite to mention that she had thought about inviting him to join their game, but Felicity hadn't wanted them to associate with a student from a disreputable public school. "Wait. How do you know my name? Where did you get my number?"

"I asked around. You go to a small school, after all."

And there was a school phone directory distributed to all the students, so if he had a friend at Rosebower somewhere, he probably could get hold of her details. "So why are you calling me?"

He laughed. "Why do you think?"

"If I knew that, I wouldn't have asked."

She could hear him breathing. "I'd like to know if you'd like to go to a movie, or something."

"You're asking me -!" Quickly, she lowered her voice, just in case someone else in the house might be nearby " - on a _date?_ "

"Doesn't have to be," said Kartik. "Not a big deal. I do not meet a lot of girls my age who have interests like mine. I would like it if we could be friends."

Gemma tried to bring his face up in her mind. Their encounters had been brief, and she hadn't really been paying attention. Dark, shaggy hair, she remembered that, but was he cute? He hadn't been ugly, at least. "When? The movie, I mean."

"When are you free? We could do something tonight, if you wanted."

"Hang on. Let me ask." Gemma set the receiver down and ran over to the stairs. "Daaaaad!" she yelled. "Can I go out to a movie with a friend?" He'd think she meant Ann, of course. She wouldn't lie to her father if he asked, but there was no need to bother him with little details. It wasn't technically a date, after all. She certainly wasn't planning to kiss him or anything. So where was the harm?

\---

If that Addams Family movie was possibly a weird choice for a date (and really, how would she know?) it was at least kind of funny and a decent way to spend time hanging out with someone who might be a friend. After getting a look at Kartik's junkheap of a car, Gemma paid for her own ticket. He didn't seem to mind, and didn't try to put his arm around her or complain that she wasn't hanging off him like some giggly ditz on television. With no real expectations, she didn't have to worry too much about making a bad impression - if he didn't like her, she'd never have to see him again - and could just relax and chatter about whatever came into her mind. It might not be romantic, but it was a nice change from her school day.

He did ask some strange questions, though.

"Do you know what a BBS is?"

"Sure," said Gemma. "It's a computer system other people can call into, connect with your phone, to leave messages or play games. My mom showed me." It was a niche thing, certainly nothing that the average Rosebower girl would have ever heard of, but Kartik had already proved he was kind of a nerd, so it didn't surprise her that he was into them.

"I run my own, here," he said, which was slightly more unusual. "I can set up an account for you."

"Maybe sometime. I haven't even got a computer set up here yet. It wasn't a priority."

Now he gave her a look like she'd said something stupid. "What _was_ a priority?"

"Getting all my things put away before my grandmother went through the boxes!"

"Huh. She is nosy, then?"

"Totally. And she's always complaining about how a real wife wouldn't abandon her family like this, until Dad tells her to shut up... well, he doesn't say it like that." She paused. "Mom didn't abandon us, she's just away for a while for work, but my grandmother thinks a woman shouldn't do that."

"It is not her decision, though, is it?" Kartik said calmly. "It is your parents' choice how they live."

"My father misses her a lot, but he's not angry, I don't think. I guess some men would be," Gemma said, and hesitated. "Would that bug you? If your wife worked?"

He snorted. "If I had a wife and she went away to work, I would prefer to go _with_ her. But I think it will be a very long time, if ever, before I have that question."

"I didn't mean -!" Gemma flustered. "I have a friend who's worried about that sort of thing, that's all. That people will expect her to be a trophy wife, or something."

"Expectations cannot change what someone really is."

"It's not that simple, for her," Gemma shrugged. She really didn't want to explain Pippa's problems, even to someone who didn't know her. "Are we going to go get a burger at McDonald's or something?"

"I would never eat there," he said. "If you are hungry, perhaps chicken?"

"Sure."

Over snacks, he handed her a folded piece of paper. "Do you know what this is?"

Gemma looked at the grid and scrunched up her face. "It's a Number Place puzzle, right? I did a couple of these. My mom likes math puzzles. My dad prefers crosswords."

"Puzzles are very important in your family, then?"

"I guess? It's just games, everyone likes games. I like Trivial Pursuit, except my parents always win because they've lived longer so they know more. I only have a chance at the Disney version."

He shook his head, a slow breath escaping. Gemma couldn't see why. "You hate Disney?" she asked.

"No." He shoved a handful of fries into his mouth, forestalling speech for a minute. "I'm just trying to figure you out."

"I'm not mysterious," said Gemma. "I'm totally ordinary. You - what _is_ that pin you're wearing, anyway?"

"This?" He unfastened the shields-within-shields badge from his shirt and handed it to her. "What does it look like?"

"Like the infinite mirrors trick. You stand between two mirrors, so the mirror reflects the other mirror, and that reflection shows a smaller reflection, and on and on to infinity."

"And what does that mean to you?"

"I don't know, that there's a secret hidden down at the bottom where no one can see it?" Gemma peered at the little symbol next to the shield. "I don't know what that is."

"It's the greek letter lambda," Kartik said. "It sometimes means a certain kind of calculus."

"Oh, _calculus,_ " Gemma rolled her eyes. "I won't get to that for years." She handed the pin back to him. "See? Totally more mysterious." 

"As you say." He grinned, teeth flashing white. "So, how about video games?"

\---

They drove home together, in the dark of evening, with the local radio playing low and neither of them talking. As they drew near her home, Gemma was still trying to decide whether she should make some overture - not kissing, they were nowhere near that, but should they hug good-night? did she want to? - when she was jarred alert by red-and-blue flashing lights.

_The police!_

"What's going on? That's my house!" A black-and-white was pulled up in front of her mailbox, lights spinning. "I have to go -" Forgetting that she was still strapped in, Gemma reached for the door handle.

"Stop!" The car juddered to an abrupt halt, the radio cutting off in mid-note. Kartik swept his arm across her, grabbing her shoulder and holding her in place. "Don't move. We don't know if it's safe."

Gemma caught her breath, looking down at his hand. It was the first time he'd touched her. "My father - "

His dark eyes met hers, commanding obedience. "Hold still." Only when she nodded did he release her. He flipped open the glove compartment in front of her, revealing something that looked a lot like a radio, but with unfamiliar labels on the buttons. Kartik drew out a set of headphones and plugged them into the device, switching it on and fiddling with the knobs. After a little while, he sighed. "Burglary," he said. "Two men broke into your house, but your father was home, and they ran away."

"How... how do you know that?"

"How do you think?" He sounded annoyed. "Think, Gemma!"

She shook her head. "I don't understand."

"How can anyone know so much and understand so little... Have you really never heard of the Knights of the Lambda Calculus?"

Gemma's face was wrinkled with dismay. "Is that who broke into my house?"

"No, chutiya, that's what _I_ am! I'm here to _protect_ you, can't you see that? What do you think a knight is?"

"But... calculus...?"

"I'm a hacker." He pulled off the headphones and stuffed them and the radio-device back out of sight. "Like you were supposed to be. Like your mother is. You _have_ to be aware that your mother's a spy."

"WHAT?"

"You walked into a public university club and told everyone you had a map to the Puzzle Palace - to **NSA Headquarters.** Why do you _think_ someone broke into your house?"

Gemma clamped her jaw shut before she could protest that she didn't even know what the NSA was. _Think!_ "You're the one who made that weird phone call to my house, telling me to stop the game," she accused.

"Finally, a sign you're not completely stupid," he said. "I was hoping to prevent something like this from happening, but it looks like I was too late."

Gemma shook her head. "There is no way that people are trying to rob me just because of some vague rumor about a role-playing game."

"You're going to deny it, when the evidence is right in front of you?"

"It's a coincidence! My grandmother has antiques. That's all. It's not about the Realms. _It's just a game._ "

Kartik slammed his palm against the dashboard. "It's not a game - not to your mother, not to the Russians, not to me. You have to stop. Destroy your notes, change the game, and tell everyone that you've done it. You have to, or you will regret it."

"And what if I don't?" Gemma gulped. "You'll hurt me?"

He stared at her. "I?" Those warm brown fingers reached out, touched her chin, so gently. "I will _never_ hurt you. Don't you see that?"

In any fair world, Gemma thought frantically, she ought to have a comeback for that. Something romantic, or daring, or intelligent, anything at all. Instead, she was frozen in place. "I..."

He snatched his hand away as if stung. "I am sorry," he said, staring down at his lap. "You should go."

"Y-yeah." Gemma fumbled with the seatbelt, nearly trapping the flesh of her thumb in the button as she pressed it. "Good night."

He looked up again, his hair forming a dark curtain around his face. "End the game, Gemma Doyle. Forget the Realms. For all our sakes."

_But I can't,_ Gemma thought. Her friendships depended on it. Ann, Felicity, Pippa, even supportive Miss Moore, they were all counting on her. And... if her mother really had left secrets for her in the game, wasn't she intended to find them?

She opened the car door and stepped out into the night, hardly noticing the police officer hailing her.

_What do I do now?_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ... and unfortunately, this is where I have to end it, because I can't possibly answer all the mysteries I've hinted at without a book series. (Sorry!) 
> 
> I can promise, though, that while this Pippa might run away from home, she doesn't kill herself. It gets better. 
> 
> This probably wasn't anything like what you had in mind, but I hope you enjoyed this window into a very weird AU!


End file.
